Advent: Days 11-14

Day 11 Verses: Romans 3.21-28
Day 12 Verses: Romans 8.1-4
Day 13 Verses: Isaiah 60.1-5
Day 14 Verses: Hebrews 10.1-10

Somehow the reading plan and I are on the same day when before I was a day behind. Not sure what happened there, but I'll go with it!

So, today, is going to be known as one of those infamous days that will never be forgotten due to the horror. A man, twenty-years old, went to an elementary school and opened fire. His mother, it's reported, was a kindergarten teacher. At the end of the event, there are now 26 victims with about 20 of them from the ages of five to ten.

I can't even begin to know how that would feel - to be a parent for one moment and the next moment your child is, without asking, taken away from you. To have someone take it upon themselves to decide that you don't need that member of your family anymore. I've had relatives, both distant and dear, die; however, never by the hands of another. Prayers are all I can offer these families and, for my own sense of comfort, the fact that I know these precious children are now in heaven. I have absolutely no question, doubt, or fear about it. They are in heaven and He has welcomed them with the most warm, secure, comforting hug we can imagine. Sometime - well, lots of times - you wonder whether someone is in heaven and the answer is always, that's between the person and God. We can't even begin to judge on that, but I know with these children that they must be there.

It's a sad, sinful world. That's no surprise. It won't always be that way and that's where the patience in affliction comes in and the pure joy during trials. We know that it won't always be what this world offers us, which is nothing but pain and death. We grieve and hurt and ask why and there's never a satisfying answer. That won't always be! There will be that day where the beauty that always seems so hidden and unattainable is so prevalent that it takes over who we are and we finally fully become God's children, blameless and pure.

I don't know...if my child was suddenly gone today, I would like to believe that my faith is strong enough that I could cling to Jesus and His promise. I pray that the parents who hearts were broken today either lean harder on Him or finally turn to Him.

Revelation 21:3-5

New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)

³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”